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Yellowstone wolf/elk study highlights predator/prey behavior

August 7, 2012

Elk in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem are not reacting to their wolf predators with a strong predator-avoidance behavior thought to apply to prey animals, according to U.S. Geological Survey research.

Elk express mild fear of wolf predators in Yellowstone

Although the presence of nearby wolves clearly affected elk behavior, these effects were not strong enough to make elk “skinnier,” said USGS. When wolves were within 1 kilometer (.62 miles) of elk, elk movement rates and vigilance increased slightly, but their habitat use did not change, researchers found.

Prey foraging, reproduction

USGS cited small-scale studies of invertebrates and amphibians that have often shown that the risk of being killed by a predator can impact the behavior of prey animals strongly enough to reduce their foraging rates, nutrition and reproductive success. The new study, said the agency, contradicts the idea that large mammalian predators help shape ecosystems through the predator-avoidance behavior of their prey.

The study was the subject of a recent presentation, Spatial and temporal context limit the effect of wolves on elk behavior.